What Are The Best Evaporative Coolers On The Market Plus Everything Else You Should Know Before Buying One

If you are new to the air conditioning topics, you might feel a little bit confused about the fact that there is a kind of a small, totally autonomous zone in the air conditioning world which consists of these totally unconventional types of air cooling devices called evaporative coolers (also known as swamp coolers).

You see, when you are looking for a device to use for air conditioning your home, chances that you will stumble upon one of this kind of coolers are pretty small. Most of people won’t be too picky when buying an AC and they will probably get themselves a kind of a good old refrigerant based machine that can do all the heavy work of cooling their homes.

And there’s nothing wrong about that. However, if you dig a little bit deeper when looking for a perfect AC device, you might be surprised with the fact that there is a totally different type of ACs (actually these aren’t officially considered as ACs at all) that does not use refrigerants for the cooling process and they consume as much of energy as a regular light bulb would do.

Then, if you get to learn about this kind of devices after reading all the specifications and reviews of other refrigerator-based ACs, you might quickly run away from that weird part of the AC world before even considering that you might buy one.

Why? Because, they simply do look weird and somehow unreal. Once you get used to the fact to see that average AC would consume about 1000 – 2000 watts of electricity and cost couple of hundreds of dollars, and then you see one of these good looking but weirdly cheap evaporative coolers and you realize that they consume like only 100 watts of energy, they simply might be looking like too good to be true and rather feel like a kind of a scam.

Well, evaporative coolers are neither a scam nor too good to be true. However, you need to know a couple of things about them before deciding to buy one because they need very special conditions to work as expected.

Here we have prepared for you an in-detail guide on what to look for when buying one and all the important things to know about them.

But, first, here’s the list of our top picks that we choose as some of the best evaporative coolers available on the market that you might want to consider buying:

OUR TOP PICK: Hessaire MC37M Portable Evaporative Air Cooler

Hessaire MC37M Portable Evaporative Air Cooler

We decided to pick this particular model as our top pick because of several features that make it stand out from the rest. Although it might not be a fancy EC unit that has plenty of control options and has a stylish nice-looking design, it seems to be one of the most efficient models currently available on the market.

First, it is a large unit that is meant to be used for cooling larger areas and it will work well both indoors and outdoors.

Note that using large capacity ECs within smaller rooms might not be as good as it would be with the regular ACs since these devices need a very good ventilation to work as expected. And achieving this might be harder to do in smaller rooms.

It has the capacity of 3100 CFM and the recommended coverage area is 750 square feet.

This cooler might not have all the fancy features as the other coolers have but, it is very efficient in doing its job, compared to other models of the same or even bigger capacity and size.

It has two fan speeds and the air swing delivery system which provides maximal coverage. It comes with a 10.3 Gallon water tank. If you aren’t a big fan of constant refilling of EC with water, this one will let you completely automate this process – you can connect this EC to a hose in order to provide it with constant water supply.

Unlike most of the coolers of this type, this model has the 3 media panels for better air intake. Better air intake will boost efficiency and reduce the fan speed and make it quieter.

In perfect weather conditions you can expect that this unit can reduce the temperature in your room by as much as 20 degrees during the hottest days which is very impressive for this type of cooler.

Note that we found some complaints of previous buyers of this particular model that there was a really bad smell coming out of this EC upon receival. However, after couple of days of use the smell should be completely gone. If you can’t stand the smell while waiting it to disappear you could consider turning this device on outdoors for a day or two and take it back into the room once the smells get vented out.

Note that this model doesn’t come with a remote control. It rather has a set of rotary switches on the top of the casing. From there you can control the fan speeds and you can select the fan only mode as well. There is also the pump switch and the switch that controls the oscillation of the fan. There is no timer built-in neither.

This device comes with the water level indicator which might be a little bit hard to read. If you have issues with this, note that there is a horizontal gauge which should go from right to left once you start filling in the water. This gauge is used to tell you how much of the water is left inside your EC and to prevent you from overfilling the water tank which can cause leaks.

While air coolers of this kind are primarily built for use in non-humid areas, you can expect from this particular model to work well even in humid areas if you are using it outdoors. We found a couple of previous buyers who claim that it works pretty well if used outdoors in humid areas like Florida or Alabama. If you are ever trying to use this unit indoors in areas like FL or AL you really need to take care about the ventilation of your space because, in case you omit to do that, the humidity can quickly rise to really large levels which you probably don’t want to happen.

While finding the noise level specification for this unit might not be that easy, you shouldn’t be worried regarding the noise. The previous users have described it as a very quiet unit which might be even quieter than the other similar ECs.

The cooling pads are made from multi layer corrugated paper and they come with a 2-year manufacturer warranty.

If you are planning to add some ice to the water tank, you can do it but, you need to be careful that there is a good amount of water so the ice can melt as fast as needed otherwise your water tank might dry faster than expected.

Pros:

This is a very efficient EC unit that can be used for cooling even larger rooms and is good for use both, indoors and outdoors

It has a three media panels for better intake which boosts its efficiency

Pretty good reviews from the previous buyers who described it as reliable and quiet

Cons:

It doesn’t have a remote control nor timer, it only has a set of very basic control switches at the top of the casing

It might have a bad smell coming out from the inside of the unit when you turn it on upon arrival – you need to wait for couple of days to have the smell completely gone

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This is not a fancy EC model and it doesn’t come with a remote control but, it is very efficient in cooling your room if used in perfect weather conditions. This unit can be expected to work in even larger spaces and should be a good buy if you are looking to buy one of this kind of coolers.

BEST FOR BUDGET: COSTWAY EP23667 Evaporative Air Cooler (24’’ H)

COSTWAY EP23667 Evaporative Air Cooler (24’’ H)

The reason that this EC is our best for budgetpick is simple – its price is way below what you would get with the most of the other ECs with similar capacity and if you were to find it somewhere selling, you might start asking yourself whether it is just a fan or an EC, just assuming the low price.

So, this obviously is not just a fan, it is an EC that has all the standard features. It has a honeycomb cooling pad that in combination with a washable filter ensures you will get some cool fresh air coming out of this unit, if used properly and in dry climate area, of course.

It doesn’t have any fancy features though, you could say that it is a good old regular swamp cooler with the basic mechanical controls that will let you control the fan speed, turn the cooling feature on and off (if you want to use it in a fan only mode) and a control option to adjust the wind swings.

If you turn on the wind swing feature, it will swing the airflow automatically by changing the swing direction to left and right. You can also set the vertical wind direction to upwards or downwards by manually adjusting the dampers.

Although this is one of the cheapest evaporative coolers, it has a pretty decent design and looks nice from the outside.

There’s one small drawback that can make the purchasing experience a little bit harder if you like to find all the possible specifications of a product before you buy it. Now, we tried everything to find a manufacturer specified cooling capacity of this EC and we couldn’t find it anywhere.

We found from the reviews from previous buyers, though, that it should be working fine in an average sized room that’s up to 150 – 170 square feet.

Note that if you are buying an evaporative air cooler that has smaller cooling capacity like this one, you need to make sure that you use it in perfect weather conditions. While the ECs with the higher cooling capacity might work well also in humid areas, small devices like this one can be very sensitive regarding this and might not work as expected if not used in the areas with arid climate conditions.

If you are looking for a really low-energy consuming device that might be a good solution for cooling your room, you will be delighted with the fact that this one consumes only 75 Watts of energy, that’s less than a regular light bulb.

This device has a 1 gallon water tank and it also comes with a set of two ice boxes that will make it easier for you to put the ice into the water tank if you wish to do that. This is a very lightweight device that can be moved around easily (weighs only 10 pounds) and it also has the caster wheels attached for better portability.

Pros:

One of the cheapest ECs on the market, offers pretty decent features for the given price

Should be pretty good for use in smaller rooms for the offered price which is only a couple of dozen dollars higher than a regular fan

Cons:

It might not the best quality EC but you need to take in account its price

The user manual might be pretty confusing

It is hard to find a cooling capacity specification anywhere but it should work well in up to 150 square feet rooms

There are other similar models from the same manufacturer that might confuse you when looking for specifications or additional info

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This small EC has all the standard features and should be a decent buy for use in a smaller room (considering that you will use it properly and in a non-humid climate area). Given its price which might be a couple of dozens of dollars higher than what you would pay for a regular fan, this might be a great EC to give a try.

BEST FOR SMALL ROOMS: DeLonghi EV250WH Portable EC

COSTWAY EP23667 Evaporative Air Cooler (24’’ H)

If you are not on a budget and you are looking for a small capacity nicely designed EC for use in a smaller room, with some advanced features, this one should be a great buy.

We decided to pick this DeLonghi EC unit as our best for small roomspick because of several features that make it stand out from the competition. This unit has the capacity of 206 CFM which should be enough for use in up to 150 square feet rooms.

Note that with this kind of coolers you can also expect them to work well in larger rooms as well if you put them closer to yourself. These devices are actually, in general, better for outdoor use so, you can use it outdoors as if you would be using it indoors having in mind that you need to be in its range to feel the fresh cold air blowing out of it.

When it comes to the design, this unit is something that is special compared to other ECs. The fan is placed at the center of the rounded top of the casing and the LED display is placed in the center of the fan. This device, unlike the others of similar size and capacity has a full control remote controller. You can also use the buttons that are placed around the display in the center of the casing of the fan for controlling this EC.

Both, the design and the features tell that this device is built for indoor use.

Another feature that is rarely found within the ECs of this capacity is the 24-hour timer that this model has built-in. The timer will let you schedule when to turn it on or off.

Even though there is the timer function, you really don’t need to worry that much about energy consumption because this device consumes only 55 Watts of power.

It also has a built-in ionizer that can help you purify the air as well.

It comes with a 1.19 gallon water tank that is easy to remove, refill and drain.

Now, this device has a noise level specification of 53 dbA which is a little bit louder than what you would expect from a device like this one that doesn’t have neither a condenser nor a compressor. However, 53 dbA noise is still considered as a reasonable quiet and this is specified as a maximum sound level that this device can achieve with the fan turned on the highest speed.

This EC has three fan speeds and three wind modes. It also comes with the provided ice pack that you can fill with water, freeze in your refrigerator and then put into the water tank to improve the cooling power of the EC.

It should be good to be used in the areas with the humidity level below 60% but it could be also helpful even in the areas with higher humidity, if you make sure that your room is vented properly in order to avoid collecting of excess humidity.

Pros:

Nice and stylish design that will make this unit look nice with the rest of your furniture

Built for indoors use, has plenty of advanced features including a timer, ionizer and a remote controller

Cons:

It might be a little bit noisier than expected from this kind of coolers but the noise level is still considered as reasonably quiet

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This is a rarely stylish evaporative cooler that looks very nice from the outside. If you live in a non-humid climate area this EC should be a great choice for use within a smaller room.

BEST FOR MID-SIZED ROOMS: Luma Comfort EC220W Evaporative Air Cooler

Luma Comfort EC220W Evaporative Air Cooler

If you are looking for a reliable device that can cool mid-sized and larger spaces, this Luma Comfort model could be a real deal.

We decided to choose this EC as our best for mid-sized roomspick because it is a very efficient unit that can do its job.

With its cooling capacity of 1650 CFM it can work well in up to 650 square feet spaces. It is advertised as the most powerful evaporative cooler that weighs under 50 pounds.

Just when you see how this cooler looks from the outside, you can make sure that everything on it tells that it is built for serious use. Note that this EC is primarily built for use in warehouses, factories or for outdoor use. However, you can still consider using it indoors if you have a larger space to cool.

It does consume a decent amount of electricity for an EC unit (220 Watts) but, it is still considered as a low-energy consuming unit.

This EC has four fan speeds and the fan comes with the silent working mode as an option which is perfect for use when sleeping.

It has a large 10.6 gallon water tank where you can also put an ice pack to boost the cooling process. Note that the ice pack is not included in the package but the water tank is large enough and should be able to accommodate some regular sized ice packs. However, note that you will need to unscrew the back panel to ad the ice which might be a kind of drawback if you need this particular feature to be easier to use.

When constantly used on the maximum setting, the 10.6 gallon water tank might be enough for up to 6 hours of unattended operation.

There is an inlet which you can use to hook this EC directly to a water supply hose or you can refill the tank manually. The hose is not included as a part of the packaging – if you want to have it connected to a constant water supply you will have to buy the proper water intake hose on your own.

Note that this is a pretty large unit which might not work well in a smaller room. If you are planning it for use within a small room, you need to make sure that your room is vented well and that there aren’t objects that are blocking the airflow. This EC has very strong fans and it needs plenty of air from the outside do work properly. If your space is under 400 square feet you might want to look for a smaller and less powerful EC.

Another fact that tells this is not meant for use in really small spaces is the noise level specification which is 68 dbA. Although it will be much quieter when set up to work in a silent mode, this is still probably not something that you want to have in a small room, placed couple of feet away from you.

As we said it earlier, this is not a small unit. It measures L: 27.40″ x W: 17.20″ x H: 41.30″ and weighs 41.9 pounds.

If you have a greenhouse, this might be a perfect EC to use even there.

Pros:

This a powerful device that can produce plenty of airflow, great for use in mid-sized or larger rooms as well as outdoors

Relatively small given its capacity and features

Powerful fan that can be set up to work in silent mode

Cons:

Might not be good for use in smaller rooms

Can be noisy when the fan speed is on max mode

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This is a powerful EC that should be a great fit for mid-sized or larger rooms. Note that this EC, while it might look and feel like it is built for larger rooms or outdoor use, as we said it above, it still should be a good solution to use within mid-sized and larger rooms. The only concern regarding whether or not it would fit your room is if it can get enough of fresh air from the outside and can your room handle all the moisture that this EC can produce.

With regular air conditioners that use refrigerators, as you increase the surface that needs to be cooled, the costs rise exponentially. At some point, conventional ACs are simply either inefficient or too expensive to use to cool large areas.

And this is where evaporative coolers tend to show all their glory. Evaporative coolers are great solution for cooling large spaces efficiently.

Portacool Jetstream series consists of several EC models that are built for use in large spaces.

They all feature the high-quality evaporative media that is based on the Kuul Comfort technology and which are claimed to be the best on the market.

Therefore we didn’t have to think too much when choosing our best for large rooms pick – it certainly had to be one of the Portacool Jetstream models and we decided to pick the 230 one.

Portacool Jetstream 230 is one of the smaller capacity models from the Jetstream series however, we chose it over the larger capacity models simply having in mind that this one might still find its application in domestic use while the other models are way more powerful and primarily meant for commercial use.

The 230 model has the cooling capacity of 3600 CFM and can cover surface of up to 900 square feet.

It is equipped with a strong fan that can produce up to 27 mph airflow.

This product is completely made in USA and offers attractive warranty options. For any of the Jetstream model a three-year warranty is offered on all electrical components and a lifetime warranty on all housings. The housings are made as one-piece molds from polyethylene.

This model comes equipped with oscillating louvers that spread airflow efficiently throughout the whole room. In order to control the airflow there are variable fan speeds to choose from.

The water tank can accept up to 30 gallons of water and it comes with a water level indicator. You can, of course, connect this model to a water supply hose and have it refilled automatedly. The water tank is also equipped with the technology that will turn of the water pump automatically if the water level within the tank is too low.

Note that this is a model that is meant for use in larger rooms, although it is one of the smallest from the Jetstream series. This is probably not something that you would like to have as an everyday solution for indoor use but, still it might be a great solution for specific occasions. This model will be the best if used in garages, greenhouses, work-spaces or outdoors.

The ECs are known to work best in arid climate conditions, it is interesting though that the manufacturer advertises the Jetstream models as very efficient in dry and hot climate areas and also pretty efficient even in humid areas like San Jose, CA, with the average humidity of 60%. For example, with the given humidity of 60% and 80 degrees temperature, you could still expect this EC to be able to lower your space’s temperature by 11 degrees.

If used in perfect weather conditions, with the very hot air temperature and humidity less than 20%, you can expect this model to lower your space’s temperature to up to 30 degrees which sounds pretty impressive.

The 230 model measures 26.5 x 28.5 x 50 inches and weighs 108 pounds.

Note that this model doesn’t come with a remote control nor timer. It only has the basic switches placed on the right side of the housing that will let you control the fan speed and turn the water pump on and off.

Given that this is a large swamp cooler, it produces a little bit more of noise than other ECs, the noise-level specification for this model is 62-68 dbA. This noise-level might be considered as not that quiet if you use this model for cooling your home.

If you had bad experience with the casters on similar devices, you shouldn’t be worried regarding that with this EC unit. It comes with heavy duty casters that will make it pretty easy to move the EC around.

Pros:

A very powerful EC with a strong fan, great for use in large spaces and outdoors

Very efficient in cooling of larger spaces

Simple design and control options

Cons:

This is a large EC that can produce pretty loud noise, although the fan motors might not be that noisy, the noise of the airflow itself can be pretty intensive

Not recommended for use in smaller spaces with poor ventilation

OVERALL IMPRESSION: This model is built for use in large spaces. If you need an EC to cool your garage, work-space, patio or anything similar that requires a powerful unit, this model should be a great solution. Note that this, as many of the other large capacity ECs, might not be a good solution to use in smaller spaces.

What are evaporative coolers and how do they work

Have you ever, while enjoying all the benefits of fresh cool air coming out of your air conditioner in the midst of a hot summer day, asked yourself how ancient people survived all these centuries before the ACs ever existed?

Well, they must have used something to cool their homes, right?

If we take a quick look at the history of air conditioners, what we can see is a clear distinction between two periods – before and after the electricity and use of the refrigerants.

So, before there were electrical ACs people were using all kinds of inventions to cool their homes and some of these devices were very similar to today’s evaporative coolers. These ancient devices were based on the same simple principles that ECs are based on – they would take the hot dry air by the so-called wind catchers and then they would make sure that this catched air gets in contact with water tanks before reaching their rooms as a cooled air.

Now, evaporative coolers, until you try them, might look like a toy version of real ACs. Which, somehow they are. Yet, in some circumstances, this kind of coolers can be used as a decent alternative to ACs and in some cases ACs can’t even compete with them.

So, if you ever thought that this kind of devices can’t do any serious job, you might be wrong. And if you think that you never had a chance to try anything similar to them, again, you might want to refresh your memory.

You probably sat somewhere in one of the outdoor cafes in your town or elsewhere during this summer and if they had these devices that felt like they are spraying water into tiny particles around, you might felt the refreshing effect of evaporative coolers.

Yes, evaporative coolers are basically the devices that turn regular water into tiny particles and spray it around them which creates an immediate effect of refreshment and coolness for those who are within their range.

These devices are obviously built for a different use than the regular ACs so they are hardly comparable.

While you could never imagine to use a regular air conditioner with, let’s say leaving your doors or window open, the evaporative coolers don’t care about this at all, actually, they need the doors or windows to be open to work better. Moreover, these devices are perfect for outdoor use. Great for restaurants, cafes and anywhere else outdoors where you need to cool the air.

Sounds pretty awesome, right? A kind of air coolers that you can use outside!

How the evaporative coolers (also known as swamp coolers) actually work?

Evaporative coolers, in their essence, are very simple devices that rely on the basic principle of water evaporation.

The main part of this kind of coolers is the evaporative pad which is constantly moisturized by water from the reservoir. When hot air passes through these moisturized pads, water molecules start to evaporate and as a result of this process the temperature of the air drops drastically (this can be as much as by 20-30 degrees).

The cool air, all together with the evaporated particles of water, is then spread further into the room by a fan that is placed right next to the evaporative pad.

This produces a cooling effect that is similar to what you would feel when standing near a waterfall when you feel like being sprayed with extremely tiny particles of water.

Now, these air coolers won’t work everywhere. They are specially designed for use in hot dry climate conditions. So, if you are living in southern or southwestern states in the US or elsewhere where the summers are hot and dry, you might be lucky to be able to use this kind of coolers.

Actually, as we said it earlier these coolers need hot air to work properly. The hot air intake boosts the evaporation process and makes these devices work better. Also, they are humidifying the air which is again great for use in hot dry areas.

If you however, live in the area with regular humidity, this kind of coolers might not be that efficient nor recommended to use. However, there are models with the indirect evaporative cooling technology that do not have any impact on humidity and might be good for use in humid areas.

Why do they call them swamp coolers?

Evaporative coolers are also known as swamp coolers. Although there is officially no clear distinction between the meaning each of these two terms, swamp coolers might be often depicted as larger units that are meant for use in larger rooms while the term evaporative cooler is more used for the devices that are less in capacity and size.

And this might be related to how they got their second name (swamp coolers), in first place.

While there’s no clear relation between swamps and evaporative coolers, it might be that they got this name because of the smell that can come out from a larger EC units that hasn’t been cleaned for a while.

Evaporative i.e. swamp coolers contain the evaporative cooling pads which need to be cleaned from time to time. If you don’t clean it for a longer time, your cooler might start smelling similar to how a swamp smells – and this could be the way that they got this name in first place.

Can evaporative coolers be even better than regular air conditioners?

If you live in the area with hot and dry climate, you might indeed want to think twice before calling the evaporative coolers less efficient than the regular air conditioners.

There are plenty of reasons why one might choose this kind of coolers over the regular AC solutions.

First and foremost, ECs are way more energy efficient than any other kind of available air coolers on the market. The average air conditioner will consume up to seven times more of energy than an evaporative unit.

Evaporative units do not have neither compressor nor a condenser – the two parts that eat up large portion of total amount of energy that regular AC units consume.

Actually, there’s basically only fans and a very basic water pump inside the evaporative units that consume energy. For comparison, the similar kind of fans that ACs have for spreading the air aren’t even considered as significant consumers of electricity. The water pump and the fan all together usually consume as much of energy as an average light bulb.

Another great advantage of evaporative units over the other types of ACs is the operational noise level.

Given that there are only silent low energy consuming fans, evaporative coolers turn out to be extremely silent while operating. Of course this is not always the case as larger units that are primarily built for commercial and outdoor use often have very strong fans that can be very noisy – and even the noise of the airflow itself coming out of such models can be pretty intensive.

ECs are also environmentally friendlier than other types of ACs, they don’t need any refrigerant nor plenty of power to operate just some water and hot air from the outside.

One also great advantage of these coolers over the other ACs is the fact that they can be used anywhere. They do not require your room to be sealed from air leaks nor anything similar. Actually they need some hot dry air to operate better so you can freely leave your doors wide open while having them turned on.

Given that they use hot air as their advantage, they are also great for the outdoor use. You can literally put them outside anywhere you want and they will provide you with refreshing air as long as you are within their range.

Now, compared with portable ACs and their portability, the evaporative units are probably something that the regular portable ACs should be. You can literally move them into any part of your house (of course we are speaking about portable swamp coolers here) and turn them on wherever you want and they will work fine. You don’t need any kind of hose nor any similar window-mounted adapter to have them working properly.

Since they are low-energy-consuming units you don’t need to worry that much regarding using a regular extension cord to plug them in (although it’s never enough to be careful with the extension cords and how much of energy consumption they can handle at once).

As they are meant for use in dry climate areas, you can also benefit from the fact that evaporative swamp coolers use evaporation to cool your home. As the water evaporates it will increase the humidity in your home which can be something that you really need in less humid areas.

Note that not all evaporative units are the same, there’s plenty of various models built for various use cases. For example, there are models that are optimized for only indoor use while the others might be optimized to work better outside. You can read more about this in the section below regarding what to look for when buying an evaporative cooler.

Regular AC types, almost all of them, require some kind of installation equipment. The installation of regular ACs might not be always that complicated but with the regular portable evaporative coolers, there’s no installation at all. You just plug it in and enjoy its presence. Of course it is never as simple as that but compared to regular ACs, installation procedure is pretty simple and straightforward.

It’s also similar with the maintenance. Evaporative units really don’t need anything except some water to run properly. While the process of draining portable ACs, for example, might be really annoying, you might actually enjoy refilling your evaporative cooling unit with fresh water knowing how good it is. Also note that regular ACs that are all refrigerant based will also require refilling of the refrigerant once in a while which can be pretty costly to do. With the evaporative cooling units, you won’t have to do this at all as they don’t use refrigerants for cooling.

While comparing evaporative coolers with regular ACs it is really hard to find an use case where these devices won’t work as good as ACs. And if you thought that this technology is only for small spaces, you might be surprised to hear that Condair applied this technology in Medina, making the world’s largest evaporative cooling systemthat cools 15-hectare area making that the world’s largest evaporative cooling system.

What are things to consider when buying evaporative cooler?

Evaporative coolers are really awesome alternative to the regular air conditioners. And, as we could see from the facts that we presented you above, there is hardly any aspect of regular ACs where evaporative units can’t perform as good if not even way better.

There are only a few possible drawbacks regarding using evaporative cooling units. One of the largest of them is where you use them i.e. whether you live in the area where this kind of cooling can work as good as regular ACs.

So here we are going to show you a list of the most important things that you should consider before buying an EC and we will include in-detail explanation on everything related to that, hoping that this will help you find the one that fits the best your space and needs.

Note that, although their essential features are very simple and pretty the same for all the models, not all evaporative units are the same. There are different models that are designed to work best in different conditions and there are even models that could do well in the more humid areas, as well.

Evaporative coolers are very picky about the climate

Before we start explaining what kind of weather conditions work best for ECs, you should be aware that these units are way more efficient when used outdoors. This might come as a surprise to you if you never used this kind of coolers before but, this is simply because of the way they are built and the physics principles that this kind of devices rely on.

Actually, if you are looking for one for outdoor use, then you most likely don’t have to worry that much about the climate in your area because most of these coolers will be good for the outdoor use. However, there might be some units that are better optimized for that, which we will explain later on in this article.

In order to make sure that your evaporative cooler will be as efficient as expected, you need to check what is the average humidity during the summer in your area.

This is one of the most important things to determine before buying an EC unit for indoor use.

These coolers can be good in the areas with 60% humidity or less. The lower humidity the better these devices might be for indoor use.

Because of the fact that the cooling process in this kind of devices highly relies on the process of water evaporation, you should be aware that these devices will be acting as humidifiers. So, using them in already humid weather conditions might not be a pleasant experience because you could increase the humidity inside your room so much that you couldn’t breathe. This is something that you, of course, don’t want to happen.

However, if you live in a dry climate area, you might actually need this kind of device badly and you might want to choose one of these rather than a regular AC.

Why?

Because not only that they would be very efficient in your area but also they would be helping you with the dry air issues. If you ever spent some time in a room where there’s low level of humidity, you could note that your mouth starts to dry and that you feel like dehydrated.

Note that neither too high nor too low humidity is good for humans. Ideal humidity level would be around 45-55%.

So, if you are in the area that, for example, has the average humidity level of only 30%, no matter which kind of device do you use for air conditioning your home, you will need to increase the humidity for at least 15%.

Do you or anyone in your home have a mold allergy?

Some people can’t stand even the smallest trails of mold. So, before buying this kind of device, especially if you are looking for a larger one with larger cooling capacity, you should learn more about this aspect of ECs and see if this is something that can affect those who are allergic to mold.

Although this shouldn’t be happening with modern ECs, you should be aware that these devices aren’t called as swamp coolers without a good reason.

Without proper maintenance, these devices can become source of mold and start smelling like a swamp.

Note that these devices will have less issues with the moldy smell if they’re used in dry climate areas where the humidity is below 60%. You should be also aware that, in case that the moldy smell can be a serious issue to you, you will have to clean the cooling pads more often than usually.

What you can look for when buying an EC is an unit that has any of anti-mold technologies built-in to reduce your concerns regarding possible issues with this.

Also, when it comes to allergies, some people can be very sensitive to being exposed to excessive circulation of air in their homes.

If you for some reason don’t like the feel of being exposed to constant circulation of the air through your room (as these devices will require this to work properly), you might want to pay your close attention to how these devices work and look for one that can operate well also with the windows closed down (which you will hardly be able to find). If you feel like you can’t stand too much of air circulation within your room then it would probably be better for you to look for a regular portable air conditioner since they might be the best solution for this particular issue.

Would it be better for you to buy a regular air conditioner?

Note that there are couple of drawbacks if you are planning these for indoor use.

Evaporative units need constant supply of hot air in order to work well. This means that if you, for some reason, cannot afford to have any kind of window or doors kept open or anything similar that will let some air from the outside into your room, you might not want to use this kind of cooler.

The hot and dry air evaporates water thus increases efficiency of this kind of coolers. If there’s no hot air from the outside or if the humidity in your room increases over time, the EC units will become less and less efficient. And this will certainly happen if your room is not vented properly.

Another thing that could be a drawback to use this kind of cooler is if you live in an urban area where opening windows would mean letting plenty of polluted air into your room. And possible additional exposure to the noise from the outside as well.

If this is the case, you probably need something better to cool your place that will have good filters to clean the air from the outside. Probably a regular window or portable AC unit would do better in that particular case.

Now, if you think a little bit about this issue you could come up with an idea similar to this:

– Why not use a dehumidifier at the same time to remove the moisture so the evaporative cooler would keep being efficient?

or:

– Wouldn’t an air intake hose solve the need for hot and dry air from the outside?

Truth to be told, this was one of the first ideas we came up while writing this article and thinking about how to avoid over moisturizing your home in case you need to keep all the doors and windows closed.

And it seems like a very logical thing to do, just add an air intake hose (similar to the exhaust hose used with the portable ACs) and you will get as much of hot dry air as needed.

However, we weren’t able to find any of such ECs currently available on the market.

The good news is that there are window evaporative coolers, which should perform way better in case of issues with enclosed rooms. This is because of the fact that they have the direct access to the hot dry air from the outside.

But still you need to remove the moisture from the inside. Well, you could do that either by using a vent or a dehumidifier but, in case you are using the latter one, you probably want to make sure that you have it connected to drain automatically through a pipe that can constantly carry away the condensate water since your swamp cooler can produce up to 1 liter of moisture per hour.

Now, clearly there are some drawbacks for doing this complicated setup and you might want to ask yourself do you really need or want to deal with all the optimization and tweaks that are needed to make this kind of system working.

If you feel inspired and don’t mind some DIY work, then, if doing so, you still might end up with something that will be as efficient as regular ACs and still consume significantly less amount of power.

The humidifying feature can be really great for those who live in arid climate conditions but, if other factors like some of these we mentioned above, are preventing you from having an evaporative cooler, you might want to look for ACs that also have humidifiers. Since there are plenty of AC units that actually work as dehumidifiers by default, so you should make sure that you don’t use one of these.

If you however live somewhere in a countryside area and keeping windows or doors open isn’t an issue for you, you would probably be delighted with owning an evaporative swamp cooler.

Which type of evaporative cooler would fit your home the best?

There are various ECs on the market that are optimized for various use cases.

For example, there are window evaporative units that will work similar to window air conditioners. They might be better for use in apartments and where you are limited with the space. Also, this kind of ECs will probably perform better than the indoor models because it will have constant and direct access to the warm dry air from the outside that fuels its efficiency.

You need to be aware that there are all kinds of evaporative coolers that are built for commercial use in larger facilities. There are even duct-systems based on evaporative cooling. However, there are also types of ECs that aren’t as good for private residences as for the commercial purpose they were built.

For smaller spaces like apartments and offices, window-mounted and portable EC units should be the best choice.

There are also EC units that are based on indirect evaporative cooling. What this means is that units like these do not necessarily require to get the hot air from the outside to cool your space. They have additional heating unit that will heat the air before entering the cooling pads and then the hot air will fuel the evaporation process while going through one or multiple stages of evaporation.

This kind of units should be adding way less humidity into the room and they are less dependant on weather conditions. However, they are usually larger than other types of ACs and will require complex installation often involving ducts like central air conditioning systems.

Choosing the proper size and capacity

When purchasing a regular air conditioner, you can hardly get wrong by purchasing a larger capacity unit for use in a smaller room. Actually, most of the times, this is something that is usually advised, especially when buying portable air conditioners where you might need some extra capacity in order to get the desired cooling power for your room.

However, this is not the case with the evaporative air coolers. The way that this kind of air coolers work is completely different from the regular ACs and if you don’t choose the proper cooling capacity your EC might not be working as expected.

If you have a smaller room, simply buying a large capacity device to make sure that it will work is not something that you really want to do. And there are couple of reasons for this.

First, you don’t want to buy a large swamp cooler and place it in your small room because this kind of ECs can be really large and noisy. Their fans can be really strong and simply something that you don’t want within your small room.

The other concern when using a larger unit within a smaller room (which is the most important reason why you want to be careful regarding this) is the fact that a large capacity EC will faster moisturize the air within your room than a small capacity one.

This means that the humidity within your small room can rise quickly and your crack opened windows simply might not be enough to vent out the excess moisture as quickly as needed. This can make your EC inefficient as soon as the humidity level within your room rises above the recommended.

And also, even if you buy an EC with the smaller cooling capacity, you could expect it to work properly simply if you place it close enough to where you spend the most of the time. Remember that these devices can work outdoors as well and you will feel their cooling effect as long as you are within their range. So, if you are looking to buy an EC for use in a smaller room, we highly recommend that you go with a smaller one that is built primarily for indoor use.

What extra features do they offer?

Although EC units might look like they are all the same – since they are based on the very same principle of cooling, they actually aren’t.

There are various companies who developed highly advanced EC units with plenty of control and performance related features – similar to what you can find in the regular ACs.

So, there are cheaper EC units that will come with the basic controls but there are also ones that will include features like a built-in programmable timer, an option to use it as a ionizer or an option to work in humidifier-only mode etc.

Another thing to look for regarding the offered features would be any maintenance-related technology.

Although these coolers should be easier to maintain than the other types of ACs, you still need to make sure that you choose the one that is easiest to maintain.

The cooling pads that are the main part of the evaporation process usually need to be cleaned once or twice per month all together with the filters, since they act as a kind of secondary filters to the air that goes through the EC unit.

In order to clean these pads you will need to be able to easily open the casing of the unit and remove them. So, before buying one, you should check if there’s any technology built-in to ease or reduce the necessary maintenance.

Another thing to consider regarding the extra features is the auto-refill feature. As a result of constant evaporation that is going on inside of the unit, these devices will produce plenty of moisture i.e. consume plenty of water. Also, more and more new models will also let you fill them with some ice usually placed into a separated bucket from the main water tank.

Because of the constant evaporation that is going on inside these devices, you might need to refill them once or twice a day. And if you add on top of that the fact that you will probably also have to refill them with fresh ice couple times a day, it might add up to the process and make it all harder to do.

So, what you might want to look for, especially if you are buying a model that is for outdoor use or with a higher capacity, is this feature that will let you connect the cooler with a water supply pipe and make it refill itself automatically.

Although most of the modern ECs will come with advanced control options, you want to make sure that there are at least two fan speeds and the fan-only option included.

You need to be able to use your EC in fan-only mode because, from time to time, as a part of regular maintenance, you need to run it in fan-only mode in order to dry the moisture that gets collected inside the unit over time.

When working in fan mode, your EC won’t use the water pump to send the water to the cooling pads so you can have them dried to prevent the mold and bad smells to collect inside your EC. Preferably, you should do this once every day, if you are planning to turn off your EC during the night.

How to understand the cooling capacity specification for evaporative coolers?

Choosing a proper cooling capacity and size when buying an AC is always important. However, when buying an evaporative cooler, you might want to pay some extra attention to this.

If you are used to buying the regular ACs, you might get a little bit confused here when trying to figure out which capacity of an evaporative unit to choose.

While the capacity of regular air conditioners is expressed in BTUs (British Thermal Units), evaporative cooler capacity rating doesn’t work like that.

Evaporative units’ capacity is rather expressed in CFMs (cubic feet per minute). So if you see a rating of an EC of 3000 cfm, this means that the given EC is able to deliver that amount of cubic feet of air to your home, per minute.

Now, it is advised that, in order to work best within the given surface, an EC has to be able to provide at least 20 air charges per hour in order to ensure effective cooling.

While you don’t need to understand how the CFM rating works, you should at least know the average cfm that is required to properly cool a specific size of space. Here we included a basic table that shows you how much of CFM should you approximately need to cool various surfaces:

Surface of space to cool (in sq. ft)

Recommended CFM

Up to 250 square feet

200 to 700 CFM

250 to 500 square feet

700 to 2000 CFM

500 to 1000 square feet

2000 to 4000 CFM

1000 to 2000 square feet

4000 to 8000 CFM

Over 2000 square feet

8000+ CFM

You can note that the recommended CFM can vary drastically and is not as accurate as what we have with the regular ACs and the BTU ratings. This has a lot to do with the way how these coolers work. You still need to be aware that they are not as same as air conditioners.

Are you ready for this kind of endeavour?

Owning an evaporative unit for cooling your home can bring plenty of benefits if you know how they work and how to use them. However, if you feel like you don’t know much about these devices yet, you might want to be slightly careful before buying one.

As we said at the beginning of this article, sometimes these devices might look like too good to be true. They obviously aren’t just expensive toys, they are built for a purpose and many people are using them already. However, you need to be aware that they are very different from regular ACs and the experience of owning them is very different, too.

If you are used to the routine of owning a regular AC you might be surprised with many things about the ECs.

They need almost perfect weather conditions in order to work and they need also owners who know how to use them and what to expect from them.

If you are someone who just recently learned about this kind of coolers, you might want to make sure that you understand them properly and educate yourself regarding these devices as much as you can. Of course, the best way to learn about the ECs would be to own one and see how it works at first hand. If you are ready to go that way, we recommend that you first find a smaller and cheaper one that seems good and reliable before purchasing any of the large and expensive units.

And finally if you, by a chance, need something that can cool outdoor spaces efficiently, then these devices are probably the best solution for that. The ECs can really work well outdoors and there are models that are very efficient in doing that.

Installation, maintenance and usage tips

Evaporative coolers are very easy to install and maintain however, these devices will still require a proper care and installation to provide you with the best possible performance.

While there’s actually a really small amount of effort required to have an EC unit up and running, you still need to pay attention to some things when doing this.

Here are some tips that can help you to properly install, use and maintain your evaporative cooler.

What’s the best place in your home to install your EC?

Most of the ECs are lightweight and easy to move around and most of the units will have also wheels on them so, considering the fact that these units don’t need the air exhaust hose to be installed onto a window, we can say that these units are pretty easy to install and move around your home wherever you need them.

This is, of course pretty awesome but, you should not forget that this kind of coolers needs some fresh air to operate properly. As it needs the dry hot air, putting your EC in the middle of the room might not be the wisest thing to do because this could put it in the midst of the moisturized zone that it creates on its own thus making it less and less efficient.

To avoid this, you might want to take your EC closer to the window (which needs to be open) so it will get a constant access to the hot dry air from the outside that it needs to be able to cool your room.

Note that there are window-mounted evaporative coolers which should work better than the portable ones because they have a direct access to the air from the outside.

Make sure that there is a constant airflow within your room

Evaporative coolers, unlike regular ACs need constant airflow from the outside into your room and from your room to the outside in order to work properly. Despite this might sound really weird if you are used to the regular ACs, this is simply how they work the best.

So, preferably, your room should need to have at least couple of windows that are crack open and on the opposite sides of the room so you can achieve the best possible airflow through the room. It is advised that you should have at least two square feet opening for every 1000 CFM of your EC’s cooling capacity.

When placing your EC in the room, you need to position the unit so its back is towards the open window and also make sure that the unit is close enough to the window.

Now, if you don’t have the windows on the other side of the room, you still can do some tricks to increase the airflow inside your room. You could, for example, crack open doors to increase the airflow or if you have a vent hole somewhere on the walls or inside the bathroom, you could use it for installing a small cheap vent that would increase the airflow.

When it comes to using vents, you can do a lot with them if you have problems with the airflow. For example, if you use an EC unit within a larger room and you need to make sure that your EC gets fed constantly with the hot dry air and at the same time take away the moisture out from your room, you could use couple of simple fans to improve the air circulation and send the airflow to the parts of your room that get the least of the fresh cold air.

NOTE:Keeping your windows open is mandatory for getting the best out of your EC but, you shouldn’t overdo this. If you open your windows too wide, your EC might not be able to cool all the hot air that is coming from the outside so this can make it pretty inefficient. It is up to you to find the optimal balance between the size of the openings and your EC’s capacity. The size of required openings will depend on many factors like the outdoor temperature, the amount of humidity that your EC brings to the room and the way your room is built i.e. whether it allows the air to circulate throughout the whole room equally.

Don’t forget the safety measures

Safety measures are always advised when installing any kind of electrical device and when doing anything in general.

Note that you need to make sure that you unplug the EC unit from the outlet so it is disconnected from the home circuit completely, if you do any kind of maintenance.

Never remove cooling pads or perform any removal of the EC parts while the EC is plugged in.

Don’t forget that these devices are a synonym for humidity.

They are made to produce plenty of it therefore the extra precautionary measures that are advised when maintaining these devices because there is increased risk of possible electric shock caused by the presence of humidity and electricity sources within the same device.

Make sure that it is safe for kids

If you are concerned that your kids could reach the grills of the EC, you might want to take extra precautionary measures regarding this.

Evaporative coolers are usually equipped with very strong fans and the larger units might not have a proper protection to prevent large objects to enter inside the cooler’s grill.

If you are using one of the large capacity units and you have kids, make sure that the fan blades are covered and protected properly. You might also want to apply an extra layer of protective netting or similar in case you are concerned that larger object could pass through the cooler’s grill.

Draining the filters and pads at the end of each day

This can be a little bit annoying to do for some people but you should do it once every day or at least three times per week.

Why? Because moisturized filters and pads can become smelly while your EC is turned off. In order to avoid all the necessary work that you might have to do if your EC starts to smell like a swamp, you should run it in fan mode for at least half an hour every day before you turn it off.

This is also something that you want to do when storing your cooler during the winter.

Also, you should empty any remaining water from the tanks anytime when you plan not to use your EC for a longer time or even overnight.

Don’t add to much of the ice into the water tank

While it might be good to add some ice into the water tank of your EC so it cools better, you need to be careful not to overdo this.

Note that there is nothing wrong with doing this and actually this is something that is also advised by the manufacturers – they will often provide you with the ice packs that can fit your EC water tank so you can easily add some ice to it. However, if you add too much of the ice, the water tank can get empty faster than expected.

Wrapping It Up

Evaporative air coolers (or swamp coolers) belong to a totally different world of air cooling devices. They look like ACs, they act like ACs but they aren’t ACs. Unlike the regular ACs that rely on using refrigerants for the cooling process, evaporative coolers only use water and hot dry air to cool your space. Since they don’t need a refrigerant, they also don’t need the compressor and condenser – the two most energy consuming components of any regular air conditioner.

This makes evaporative coolers way more eco-friendly than any other refrigerant based air conditioner. They consume only a fraction of the energy that regular ACs use for cooling.

Now, evaporative coolers do feel like awesome cooling devices but, they won’t work everywhere. They need very specific climate conditions in order to be able to act like coolers.

Evaporative coolers work best in the areas with dry and hot climate because they use the hot dry air to evaporate water and as a result of this process they are able to lower the air temperature by up to 30 degrees.

The fact that they won’t work in humid areas is one of the main reasons that many of buyers get disappointed when purchasing one before learning more about the ECs. So, in order to avoid any misconception regarding the ECs, and help those who live in the areas with the appropriate weather conditions, we decided to create this in-detail guide on what to look for when buying one and how to use and maintain them properly. We also prepared a list of our top picks, as usual, where you can find the reviews and information about some of the best evaporative coolers on the market.

We hope that you were able to find some useful information and that we helped you with deciding whether or not an EC would be a good fit for cooling your place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do evaporative coolers spray water

Evaporative air coolers generally do not spray water – at least not directly. Although you might feel the sensation of tiny particles of water on your skin when you are close enough to the evaporative air coolers, this is actually the evaporated water combined with cool air. The process of evaporation turns the water into gas and this makes it possible for water to spread around easily.

There are, though, some outdoor coolers which do spray water by breaking it into tiny particles but these aren’t considered as evaporative coolers because they don’t evaporate water.

Do I have to keep my doors and window open when using evaporative cooler?

Yes, as similar as it is obligationary for portable air conditioners to have properly attached hose that carries out exhaust heat outside of the room, evaporative air coolers need to have access to the fresh dry air from the outside in order to cool your room properly.

Usually, it is enough to keep all the windows in your home crack open and your EC should be working fine. If you are concerned that there mightn’t be enough of air circulation within your space, you can use some regular fans to blow the air so you make sure it circulates around the whole room.

Are evaporative coolers as good as air conditioners?

Yes and no. This depends on where you live and how do you use these devices. ECs are only good for use in arid climate conditions with hot and dry air. If the average humidity in your area is above 60%, then you probably shouldn’t expect much from evaporative coolers if you are planning them for indoor use.

Can I use both an AC and evaporative unit at the same time?

Theoretically you can do it and it might or might not work well, depending of many factors. One of the main concerns of this kind of use is the fact that evaporative coolers need fresh dry air from the outside and given that the portable EC units don’t have any hose nor wents to get the air from the outside, you have to leave your windows open. If you however, do that, then the AC that would be also turned on at the same time as the EC, would be less efficient.

One combination that could be worth of trying is to use a window mounted EC unit combined with a portable AC with a strong dehumidifier and a special hose for taking away the condensate water.

How to get rid of bad smell from evaporative air cooler?

Because of the way they’re built, evaporative units can produce uncomfortable smells (that’s how they most likely got the name “swamp coolers”). If your newly bought EC smells bad, you shouldn’t be panicking about this because it is something that happens usually and the smell should go away within couple of days. If the smell is still there after one week of constant use, you might want to call the customer support and ask them to help you determine what might be causing the smell.

If your evaporative cooler started smelling bad after some time, you can check if the smell is coming from the cooling pads, If that’s the case, one of the best was to get rid of smell is to wash the pads in a mixture of water and lemon juice. Although some will advise to also use some vinegar for this purpose, it might be a thing to avoid since vinegar smell can stay on the pads for weeks.

Are evaporative air coolers good for outdoor use?

Yes, most of the EC units will be good for outdoor use. This kind of devices should be a great choice for cooling your balcony or patio. While most of the ECs will probably work just fine when used outside, there are some models that are specially designed for outdoor use and for cooling large outdoor areas.

What is the most powerful evaporative cooler?

Technically speaking, there aren’t limits for how powerful evaporative coolers can be. They can be used for cooling entire homes or even large outdoor areas. The world’s largest evaporative cooling system is built in Mecca where it is used to cool the area of 10 hectares.

How much of energy evaporative air coolers consume?

EC units are consuming significantly lower amounts of electric power than the regular ACs. They can consume of up to 10 times less of electricity than the ACs. Because they don’t use any kind of refrigerant and don’t need condenser and compressor, EC units only have fans that are considered as very small consumers of energy. A portable room EC would usually consume as much of energy as a regular 100 Watt light bulb.

My evaporative cooler spits water, what should I do?

If your EC starts spitting the water after working normally for a while, there might be couple of different reasons why this is happening. Mostly this will be caused by the excessive humidity in your room or oversaturated cooling pads. If your room is not vented properly and there is not enough of airflow inside it, it might happen that the humidity level will grow quickly so your EC won’t be evaporizing the water from the cooling pads anymore rather spitting it out. If you think that this might be the reason that your EC spits water, you can solve it by opening your windows, and running the EC in fan-only mode until the cooling pads get dried.

This issue could be also caused by a cracked water tub so, you might also want to check if there are any cracks that could be causing this.

Would an evaporative air cooler work in a greenhouse?

Yes, most of the ECs will do just fine in greenhouses and your plants should love it. However, despite the fact that plants can consume plenty of water, you need to make sure that you have the control over the humidity level within the greenhouse since not all the plants will be delighted with excessive amounts of moisture.

What’s the difference between evaporative coolers and swamp coolers?

When it comes to functionality, there is no any significant difference between the so-called swamp coolers and evaporative coolers. Both of these work on the same principles and they rely on harnessing the water evaporation to cool your spaces. So, this is rather something that is related to colloquial terminology rather than the actual functionality and understanding of the meaning of these terms might vary from a place to place.

Generally, swamp coolers are considered as large EC units that are large in size and that have larger cooling capacity. They most likely got their name by the fact that larger ECs, if they’re not cleaned and maintained properly, they can get a weird smell that smells like a swamp.

Do evaporative coolers use refrigerant?

No, unlike the regular air conditioners, EC models do not rely on any kind of refrigerants. They use rather moisturized cooling pads that cool the hot dry air based on the simple evaporation process. This makes EC units quieter, way more energy efficient and highly eco-friendly because they don’t have neither a compressor nor a condenser like the other refrigerant-based ACs.

Does a swamp cooler work as a humidifier?

Yes, swamp cooler is works as a very strong humidifier because it highly relies on the water evaporation process in first place. Swamp evaporative coolers work so they take the hot dry air from the outside and as this air passes through the moisturized cooling pads it gets cooled down and as the result of this process, moisture from the cooling pads evaporates and gets spread into your room all together with the cool air. If your room is not vented properly, an evaporative cooler can quickly increase the humidity level and this can affect its air cooling performance. However, in the areas with low average humidity, evaporative cooler can be a very handy solution that will both cool your place while providing you also with the necessary humidity.

What’s the difference between CFM and BTU when measuring the cooling capacity?

CFM stands for cubic feet per minute and it is used to measure how many cubic feet of air can an evaporative cooler transfer into the room within a single minute. Because evaporative coolers don’t work like regular ACs, the CFM measurement unit is used for expressing their cooling capacity while BTUs (British Thermal Units) is used for rating regular air conditioners and space heaters.

Do evaporative coolers have a compressor and condenser?

No, EC units only have a fan, the cooling pads and a water pump that pumps the water to provide the cooling pads constantly with the water from the tank i.e. to moisturize them. Once the hot dry air from the outside passes through the moisturized cooling pads, the water from the pads evaporates and as a result of that the hot air gets cooled by as much as 30 degrees.

How much does it cost to run a swamp cooler all day?

An evaporative swamp cooler doesn’t consume plenty of energy because it is only consisted of a simple fan and a water pump. Both of these components are low-energy consuming devices. Most of the smaller swamp coolers that are built for use in smaller rooms will consume about as much of energy as a regular light bulb.